My Creation Station

Table makeover

2011-02-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well I'll start off with a little history. Hubster and I bought this table from the local classifieds about 8 years ago when we bought our house. I fell in love with it. I loved the color, the design, the everything. When we bought it, I knew it would need to be refinished eventually. But I had no idea how to recreate this fabulous 1950's blonde look. So one day while eating at the local mexican restaurant I fell in love with their chairs. It was the inspiration I needed to tackle this project. I got to work right away stripping the chairs first.

Little did I know that this wood was actually MAHOGANY! I was certain the old lady who purchased this Drexel set back in the day was rolling over in her grave when I was applying the turquoise stain! It was a long lengthy process. Because it was red mahogany, I couldn't simply apply my stain. Thankfully, my BFF- Google, helped me find out that you bleach mahogany in order to get it lighter. So after many phone calls I found someone who actually stocked the special wood bleach and away I went.
6 weeks later, the set is complete. I couldn't be happier with them. They were 100% worth all the work and frustration I put into these. And I do mean I. Hubster helped me get the table out the garage and I did the rest.
I learned a lot about furniture refinishing during this process. It was a lot of fun to re-route my creativity to a new direction!

August

2010-09-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. So sorry for my delay in updating this blog! I'm so sorry it hasn't been every week like I committed to!

My friend decided in August to start doing monthly theme colors for all projects, like a presenter at convention does. She picked the color scheme and I followed her. She picked: Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, I added accents of Tempting Turquoise and Basic gray. It was interesting how this combo was very feminine, but yet also funky and cool. I also made a scrapbook page and another card to display, but the scrapbook wasn't anything exciting, so I decided not to show it. So the card below is a total case from another one I fell in love with. Unfortunately I don't know who I got it from, so I can't give proper credit...so sorry.

products are all Stampin up. Stamp set: Extreme Elements, Extreme skateboard, Teeny Tiny Wishes. I used the star punch with a tempting turquoise brad for a little bunch of turq. Love this card.

We made these little bookmarks for August club. It seemed appropriate since school was starting and there would be lots of reading. I am so in love with this Aviary set!
Rich Razzleberry card stock, Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie 1/4 grosgrain ribbon, Old Olive DSP from the Brights DSP tablet, Old Olive Button from the Brights button assortment, curly label punch for the top.

3x3 Thank you's

2010-08-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

As a gift for my friends at convention I decided I'd make a few tiny thank you cards. We can always use thank you cards right? So, here they are. Everything of course is Stampin up. This first card I sewed the tiny ribbon on my sewing machine. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I used the Greenhouse Gala DSP, Old Olive ribbon and CS and a little strip of Daffodil Delight CS across the top of the ribbon.

This one below also features the Greenhouse Gala DSP, Chocolate chip and Daffodil delight CS with some early esspresso 1/8 taffeta ribbon. The stamp set used is Teeny Tiny Wishes for the Thank you and Friends Never Fade for the flower.
This one also features the Friends Never Fade stamp set. I randomly selected a color scheme from the new and fabulous Color Coach. The colors are Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzaz, and Tempting Turquoise. I used markers to color the bloom, and then used the tiny tags stamp set with the tiny tag punch for the tag. I used linen thread to tie it up.
This last one uses the Artist Etchings set. I used Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze and Black. I brayered the Newsprint DSP in Baja Breeze. I LOVE that technique! I wish I came up with it, and I wish I would have saved the name/blog of the person who did so I could give them credit
So there we have it. Sorry to my blogging group friends because I haven't been blogging every week! I'll try harder!

This or That

2010-07-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Convention is in TWO WEEKS! I can't believe it's here already. I wait for this day for 365 days! and now it's finally here! So in preparations for convention, I have to design swap cards. I am participating in a shoebox swap, and I can't decide which one of these cards I like better. What do YOU think??

I like the above because it seems sort of regal with it's colors. Which by the way are Riding hood red, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, and Very Vanilla card stock and then DD RR and EE ink. Paired with EE ribbon! I love that itty bitty ribbon.

I also like this one too. I like that it's softer (sort of) colors and honestly I'm using that tower way too much, and I needed to figure out a way to use the rest of the stamps in a focal point sort of way. This card I used Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist, River Rock and Very Vanilla card stock and ink.

So tell me! Which card do you like better??

June Club

2010-06-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

So sorry for my delay in posting. I have had a little bit of drama with my camera situation! I am so sad that this Stampin' Up! stamp set, Nursery Necessities, is retiring this month! It's my favorite baby set EVER! I have never done a baby card for our club, so I thought this would be the perfect time! I also wanted to try a "functional" card. So this is a "spinner" card. The little star spins down the card. It's so cute!

Supplies: So Saffron Card stock, Bashful blue DSP, Buttons sizzix die, abc roller, nursery necessities stamp set, Basic Gray classic ink, Versamark, two pennies, star punch, a gazzilion dimensionals.

At convention year before last they demonstrated using paper towel rolls for little cups, then of course cover them with cuteness and there we have it. Well, I have been sporatically saving my paper towel rolls to do something with them. I saw somewhere someone made a little firecracker with this set, so I thought that would be the perfect project for my PT rolls!

Supplies: paper towel roll, star punches, Red, White, Blue jumbo roller, Real Red and whisper white 1/4 grosgrain ribbon, not quite navy, real red classic ink pad. All Stampin' Up!

love at first sight

2010-06-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, when I saw this set in the catalog for an early preview i was in LOVE! Then when I saw (at midnight june 1st) that i got to preorder it i was in HEAVEN! This might be one of my most favorite sets! I've already made 4 cards with it and I love each one of them! I love the new in colors...this card features Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzaz and the returning Baja Breeze and a smidge of So Saffron. I love that we have markers for everything. So anyway, Here's my card....

Marker storage

2010-06-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

I know I can't be the only person in the world with a dilemma right now (well not really me anymore) but when Stampin Up comes out with 18 NEW markers and the case (that I didn't have anyway) only holds 48 and you now have 76 markers! That's a problem. I took matters into my own hands and purchased a $2.68 piece of foam board and went to work. It was a little tricky since I've never in my life worked with it (and if I did it again-and I might- I would use a new blade in the craft knife). There were a couple of tutorials for other items similar to this, so I decided my dimensions and got busy. Here is my end result. Good thing my picture is low quality, so you can't REALLY see how scabby it is :), but it houses my markers in a nice visual way. I love it. I think I may cover it with some DSP or something. For now I love it just the way it is!

Preview

2010-06-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

This time of year is like Christmas for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators! I got this set as a preorder with the new core colors. I LOVE the new colors. The renovation was SOOOO needed. Anyway, this set has several other cool items, but the eiffel tower was my least favorite so I told myself I HAD to make something with it. I had a vision of the tower at night so I thought I'd play with it. It turned out okay I suppose. I stamped the keys out in Pear Pizzaz, Peach Parfait, and Daffodil Delight, then cut them out and stuck them on the tiny 1/8" Marina Mist Taffeta ribbon.

New header....and a card

2010-05-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

I made my first header with MDS. It's not 100% the look I was going for, but it turned out cute, and happened to match my current blogger background! YAY.

Anyway, here is the card that i accidentally posted last week then deleted...but it still showed up as there. My great uncle passed away a couple of weeks ago and I made a handful of these cards cards to give to my grandma and his family. He lived a long life and it was okay that he passed.

Fathers Day

2010-05-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

I procrastinated....I worked just hours before club to create, design and prep for club! Naughty Naughty! I hate to do that, but yet I've been doing it lately. Anyway. Here is what I came up with for Fathers Day. Seems like we always give my Dad some sort of Nutty gift.....Sunflower seeds, bulk cashews, etc. So I thought, for club, we'd make a little box that has a window perfect for a nutty gift! I actually got design idea through inspiration of our own beautiful catalog. Imagine that ;)! I was looking to guess the dimensions of the party favor die, and there was an amazing sample with a window on that very page. So I modified my size and figured out what would work best.

This particular box starts out as a 4 1/4 x 10 peice of cardstock. It gets scored, 1 1/2", 4 3/4", 6 1/4", and 9 1/2". Then long ways 1". I used Night of Navy for the box, then a piece of 3x3 More mustard ran through the big shot with the lattice folder. A piece of Brocade Blue (retiring, SAD!) 5/8th Grosgrain ribbon, tied with linen thread, and then a cute little tag from "Tiny Tags" that says "4YOU" punched with the tiny tag punch.

To give examples to my customers I whipped up this 3x3 card that fits inside. We aren't making it for club (because we are making the card below), but I wanted to show them how perfectly a little card would fit in there.

Projects

2010-05-12T11:07:00.001-07:00

Here are my most recent projects. This one is using the new Elements of Style set that just came out in the Summer Mini Catalog. I have seen so many beautiful cards made with it that I just HAD to have it. With it being on special this month, I figured it was a good time to get it! So this first one is what we are going to do for club this month. The circle brads come free with a qualifying stamp set purchase.

Since I had several practice images colored, i decided to make a card with them. So this one I was just playing around. I crumpled up this Pink card stock until the layers started to separate, then I gently peeled them apart. Whala. The result is a "suede" looking piece. It's much prettier in real life.
The cards below I used Fifth Avenue Floral. It was on special last month, and since it has been on my wish list for so long I decided to get it. I just LOVE it! I made these two cards with it for mothers day.

Below is the Milk Carton die. It was so quick and easy to throw together.
This one was a fun one. You have to look close, but the ribbon is not actually going around the whole card front!
Another card that is better in real life :). I embossed the image with irredecant ice embossing powder, then we sponged over it with various colors of ink.
This was my Mom, Mom in law, etc gifts. I made this tiny little card that fit inside the box. I made the box to fold like a pizza box, and inside I made an insert that would hold a necklace I made. unfortunately I don't have pictures of the necklaces. They were the most beautiful!

A few more pages

2009-12-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

I have finally made a few more pages! I am so in love with this software. It makes scrapping so easy! I made three pages tonight in the course of 2 hours. That's a lot better than I would take to make these same pages with paper! LOVE IT!

Digi Scrappin

2009-09-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

i am so excited! Stampin Up has now released a digital Scrapbooking program called My Digital Studio. If you print with them you are guaranteed that they will be printed to true Stampin' Up! colors, so you can do some "hybrid" scrapping! SOOO EXCITING! Here are a couple of pages I made in seriously, like 10 minutes each. The software comes with all the essentials. If you already had a software program you can just buy the elements! YAY! Love it. I will be most likely doing this for all of my scrapping needs now. It's just so quick! There's pattern paper, brads, buttons, hardware, ribbon, stitching, staples, stamping, and punches. LOVE IT! Anyway. here's the projects. IF you have any questions on it let me know!

Altered Notebook

2009-07-25T07:23:00.001-07:00

I picked up a few of these fat little notebooks at Family Dollar for $1. I decided I would make little notebooks for my convention friends. It took me just about all day to make 10 of them, but they are done and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. They were really easy to make. This particular size is a quarter sheet size (4.25x5.5) So it was pretty quick cutting everything out. I unwound the wire so i could make the holes perfect. I glued my front on and then flipped it over to see where the original holes were and then used my 3/16th side of my Crop-A-Dile to punch the holes. That by far was the worst part of the project. I thought the unwinding and winding back up would be bad, but it really wasn't! I used Stampin Up supplies for everything. The stamp set is the Level 3 Hostess set, Kind and Caring thoughts. I used the new in color markers to color the image and then used Melon Mambo for the base, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry cardstock. I used my mini calendar alphabet to spell "notes" and then cut them all out. I hope everyone who receives them loves them as much as I do! hehe!

swaps

2009-07-22T12:57:00.001-07:00

In just two weeks I will be surrounded by thousands of Stampin Up demonstrators at our yearly Convention. I am so excited I can't even stand it! It is tradition to make swaps and trade cards with people. So here are the cards I've prepared.

This card is for a "case the catty" swap I'm doing, but it's not actually a part of convention. I copied the card on page 105. I changed the colors to Ricsah Razzleberry, Elegant Eggplant, Burmuda Bay, and Basic Gray. I used a cotton swap and smeared ink on the circles of the leaves. It seems like that's what they would have done and it worked out great! I used the flower punch (the one that has three flowers, I can't remember what it's called) and a clear rhinestone brad near the sentiment. I used Sahara sand for the sentiment. They used Kraft in their example, which wasn't used elsewhere, so I figured Sahara Sand was a good substitute for my color scheme. This picture does not even do this card justice. It might be the best card I've ever created!

This card is also part of the "case the catty" swap. I cased the card on pg 82 for the Lots Of Bots page. I knew the moment I laid eyes on the bots that I had to have them. So I told myself if I was going to get them I'm have to use it to make my swaps. I only had Real Red 5/8 grosgrain ribbon, so I pretty much had to design the whole card around that color. I wanted the bot to have some sort of red in it, but to actually color it red was too much. I inked him up with Real Red ink, and then lightly color washed him Crushed Curry. Seems like that got the red point across, but wasn't so in your face. I used Soft Suede for the card base, Burmuda bay for the long strip, Crushed Curry for the mat and then my Real Red ribbon with a filigree brad. Unfortunatly that was the best option for the brad that's meant for that spot. It looks good enough I think.

Now this card is for a true convention event. We are having a dinner the opening night of convention, and this will be my swap. Again I used Lots of Bots (because I had to :)). I used Burmuda Bay for the Card base, with accents of Crushed Curry. You may notice it's the same layout as I did for my July projects. That's who much I loved the layout! I used Thoroughly Modern Designer Series paper here with Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon. I punched my bot out with the 1 3/4 punch, but then used the Circles big shot die to get the border. (something I wished I would have had when we did our July club). I plan on making this same card with girl colors, so I can prove these bots are for girls too!! hehe. I still have to make my "general" swapping cards. I'll probably make about 50 card fronts and I'm not sure what I'll do yet.

July Projects

2009-07-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

Here are the projects for our July workshop. I found this card layout for an advertisement for a whole other company. I loved it immediately and thought it would work great showcasing the new in colors and Designer Series Paper, Which by the way is Razzelberry Lemonade. The new In Colors this year are just amazing. I am completely in love with them already!

This card showcases the new darker purple, Rich Razzleberry; new yellow, Crushed Curry; and the new bold pink, Melon Mambo. I used the In color markers to color the cupcake from Party Hearty and used the 1 3/4 circle punch to punch it out. The ric rac is actually Elegant Eggplant, but it went very well with the paper, so I used it. It's part of one of the Ribbon Original bundles. This card was so quick and easy to throw together. A person could easily put a birthday/celebration sentiment where the ric rac is and have the same darling card!

WE also made this post it note holder. I loved this bird set so much that I just had to use it this month for our workshop. The set is called Bird on a Branch. I used Soft Suede for the branch, So Saffron for the spotty leaves, and Tempting Turquoise for the bird. You can't really see from the picture, but I used the color spritzer in the background with a Certainly Celery marker. It's very cute in real life. Also I used the new phrases set called "Teeny Tiny Wishes" at the bottom. I picked up the post it notes at the dollar store 4 / $1, so it makes this project very inexpensive. I used So Saffron Cardtock for the base, then Tempting Turquoise for the mat, and Very Vanilla for the picture. I wrapped Certainly Celery 1/4 grosgrain ribbon around the whole thing to keep it closed. Because the post it notes are a different shade of yellow, I matted them on a piece of Tempting Turquoise card stock just like what's on the front. This project was a little more time consuming because we used the stamp-a-ma-jig for precision for the branch and leaves. But it could easily be mass produced. We cut the bird out and popped it up with a dimensional.

Mojo Monday 91

2009-06-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

I am finally posting something! I have been making stuff, but I just haven't been taking pictures. I was totally inspired by this Mojo Monday sketch, so I had to participate! I used a retiring set called Stitched Exotics stamps, and a brand new set called Teeny Tiny Wishes that will be in the new catalog! I used Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper, Regal Rose, Rose Red & Kiwi Kiss card stock, along with Rose Red ink and Ribbon, Regal Rose & Kiwi Kiss ink. It will be sad when we let those colors go, but I can PROMISE the brand new In colors are just amazing! I am so exciting for them. Stampin Up Debut's a new catalog July 1st and It's GORGEOUS!

New projects

2009-03-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since I've posted anything. IT's not because I haven't been making anything...I've just been too lazy to take pictures! So once again, I'll work on being better.

We recently found out that Daron and Angie are having a little girl. I was feeling very domestic and offered to make the blanket. Well the fabric was so stinking cute that we had to make curtains (not pictured) and then of course the bumper. Angie had no idea I was making the bumpers so she was very surprised when I whipped them out of the bag to show her! It was a really fun project and It really didn't take that long to do.
This was one of the projects for our March club. I used the big shot and the Stampin Up! exclusive die called Baskets and Blooms to cut it out and we assembled it. The paper was the free paper from Sale-a-Bration, as well as the flower stamp set. It was so simple to create! The ladies loved it!
I had 9 birthdays this month. And I'm starting a new thing where I will actually make and mail birthday cards (novel idea huh LOL). So here's my card for Melody (my neice). I used Stampin UP!'s Flight of the butterfly set, with pretty in pink, rose red, and certainly celery card stock. The ribbon is from the free ribbon bundle for Sale-a-bration. There's nothing like using up FREE SUPPLIES!
This is another of my many cards. I used a new set that being released April 1st called Great Friend. it's so darling! I love the butterfly!
This was a simple box I have seen floating around the web and wanted to give it a try. I used Close to Cocoa CS with the Sweet always designer paper with Regal Rose ribbon. The set is yet another of the free Sale-a-bration sets and it says "A little yummy for your tummy". I used the stampin up markers to color the image in two different colors.
This is the another stamp in the same Sale-a-Bration set as above. It fits perfect with the Stampin Up exclusive big shot die called "Top Note". I just cut the tope not in half long ways and stamped. This is the perfect size for a gift card. I used Baja Breeze ink and designer paper, and then a So Saffron Marker for the words and then so saffron ribbon (which is the other ribbon that came in the Sale-a-Bration bundle)
This was our card for Februrary's club. I wanted to show how easy it was to "watercolor" with inks and blender pens. The ladies who hadn't known of this technique were thrilled with learning how simple it was! And it really is. I used Pretty in Pink and Old Olive Card stock with the Raspberry Tart Designer paper and Pretty in Pink Ribbon. It was so easy to create!
This was our other project for March. We showed using the Stamp a ma jig to create perfect 2 step stamping. And the ribbon was a fun way of "frilling" up the card. It was very simple. Because I'm hoping for spring soon, I chose colors from Stampin Up!'s new paper called "Tea Party". I gave a challenge to my club members this month to pick a card layout in the catalog and recreate it using stamps and paper that they already had. So this was my take on the card layout too. It's from page 58 of the Spring/Summer Idea Book.
My dear sweet brother's birthday is on St. Patty's day. So of course I had to make him a shamrock card! I used a heart stamp with the new full heart punch to make it, and then free handed the stem and added a square green brad. Turned out pretty cute if you ask me!

Hopefully I'll be a little better at updating this website. I have a bunch of scrapbooking layouts as well.

As always you can check out the latest products on my Stampin Up website at annaRblack.stampinup.net and chose "Shop Now" and it will bring up the shopping page.

More Digiscrappin

2009-01-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

I am getting SUCKED IN!!!! AHHHHH!!! LOL. Here are a few more layouts I've done. I did the Motorcycle one today in a short amount of time, The grandma's house one I made for Kathy for Christmas, and the last one is Coen's page to match Asa's

it's about time....

2009-01-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

I update this blog!!! I am getting my hands "dirty" with digital scrapping. So here is one of my creations, well really the only LOL. I still love getting my hands on paper and ink, but there is something a lot more convenient about doing it digital for my scrappin. I got this template and really just plopped on some free elements and called it good. It only took about an hour. Which included all the learning I needed to do!

October club sneak peak

2008-10-04T15:35:00.001-07:00

Here is a sneak peak of what we are going to be doing for our club this month. Aren't these just the cutes or halloween treat bags! The technique is very easy!

Weekend Sketch Challenge #60

2008-10-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here is my take on Beate's sketch for this month. My card was very simple, but I'm happy with the results. I used Close to Cocoa and Baja Breeze ink with a blender pen to color the image of my cupcake platter from Crazy for Cupcakes (which is on special this month from Stampin Up!). I used Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze, and Whisper White card stock. And the red is from the hostess prints pack. I got out my new Sizzix Big shot, and our new Top Note Die (exclusive from Stampin Up!) and cut the top note in half. Then I just popped out three 1/4 circles using the punch and tied white taffeta ribbon around my Baja Breeze cs. LIke I said, very simple, but very cute IMO.

P.s. I also used that cute little birthday sayings set. At the moment I can't remember it's official name!

Be Inspired #25

2008-10-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

I am trying to stay motivated in making stuff, so I pay close attention to Beate's challenges. This one I used Stampin Up's Eastern Blooms with Tangerine Tango ink, Close to Cocoa, and Versamark. I used Chocolate Chip, Naturals Ivory, and Kiwi Kiss card stock, and the Hawaiian Papaya designer series paper. I also used a tiny bit of Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon in there too.

I am really happy with my results. though my intention was to copy the layout of the inspiration, but I did it from memory, so it wasn't perfect. If I wanted it to be perfect I guess I should have looked at the inspiration peice closer :)

Beates Challenge

2008-09-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here is my card for Beates challenge. I used her color inspiration challange BIC24 and her weekend sketch WSC59 in one card, though I did change the sketch a little bit, but I think it still fits. I used only Stampin Up supplies, which were Fresh Cuts and Riot of petals set, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla card stock, and then Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip Ink. I also used the small tag punch and then hand cut the kiwi peice under it. I think it turned out nice. Very simple and fast! Though, It took me a while to actually put it together, but it didn't have to :) I was just being picky about the layout! I couldn't decide if I wanted to use this strip of chocolate chip paper with the vine style stamp on it, or if I should use the beautiful double stitched 1" chocolate chip ribbon. I opted to stick with the card stock because I had already gone to all the bother of stamping it. I do like the look though. Anyway, there's my card :)

Another one

2008-09-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

I decided to make another card with the same colors and basic layout as the one for my challenge. This time I used a background stamp in Tangerine Tango ink and TT cardstock. I love this background stamp, so I think I like this card a little bit better. Oh yea and we can't forget about the darling Riding hood red button from the "Button Bouquet" pack!

Challenge

2008-09-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

Each month I give my ladies in my club a challenge. This month I told them to find inspiration in a magazine or something and copy the colors (the best you can) so here's mine. I copied the cover of this month's Martha Stewart Magazine. I loved the colors so I had to copy. In my card I used So Saffron for the card base, Hawaii Papaya (which is basically Tangerine Tango with pattern) Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla, Tangerine Tango CS with my flowers (from the Pocket Silhoettes set - which is on special this month) stamped in Riding hood Red and whisper white craft "chalkboarded" with yellow chalk.
I love the way the card turned out, though I may try it with just a solid color of Tangerine Tango instead of the pattern. Sorry I couldn't get a great picture of the cover on here. But at least you get the general idea. Oh yea, and the lighting on my card is not so great. It's a lot better in real life :)

Vinyl

2008-09-06T16:18:00.001-07:00

I finally did something with my cricut machine. I got this idea from someone else, but thought I could copy. It doesn't look exactly like the other one, but it's close enough.

It's official

2008-08-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

I now have an official Stampin Up! website. You can find it at annaRBlack.stampinup.net

On this official website you will find a calendar for the upcoming classes, promotions, and fun project ideas, that are not necessarily from me.

August Club

2008-08-28T17:06:00.001-07:00

Here are some projects we did at our August club. The first one is a "Spring" card using the Eastern Blooms set (which is on special this month and next). And the second one is using the Always stamp set with the new Always paper. I love coordination and I just had to have the paper since i had the set! THANK YOU STAMPIN UP! A company after my own heart! We used markers to color the flower in the first card and markers again to get the two colors on the "always A" stamp on the pillow box. Oh yea, and about that pillow box...Stampin Up partnered with Sizzix and offers exclusive dies and now other dies as well. So I pre-ordered because I had to have it LOL. Thanks for looking!

Cards for fun

2008-08-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some cards I made for fun using our new sets. I seriously cannot express my excitement enough for our new catalog. The layout changed a little-for the better- and the new sets are just to die for!

These two cards are made with the set "Dreams Du Jour". I love to color, so I used Stampin Up's watercolor crayons. The red one I used Ruby Red, Bashful Blue, and Old Olive Cardstock with the same colors of crayons. The blue one I used Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss Cardstock. The Crayons are great because I can just outline an image, or in this case I just colored the lines of the flowers, and then used a watercolor brush and that activates the crayon and smoothes out the color. It's amazing. You can count on that being one of the techniques for our club coming up!
This is also "Dreams Du Jour". I used 4 of the 6 in colors-Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Riding hood Red, Tangerine Tango- with natural Ivory and Black Cardstock. This was a very simple card, but it turned out nice :)
Yes I think this Eastern Blooms set will be one of my fav's! I love it. I used Tangerine Tango again (yes I love orange) with a chocolate chip stampin up marker. I just got my first set of the markers and they are great! I love being able to ink my stamps more than one color before it even hits the paper. Anyway, I used Close to Cocoa and Tangerine Tango Cardstock with some Linen thread tied around. Also I used the "Sanded" background stamp. I got the basic idea for the card on the web, so I can't take full credit for it. Oh yea and you'll notice that the white piece on the card has a sort of textured look to it. That's a fun technique that will be in one of our upcoming classes as well.

CONVENTION!!!

2008-08-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at Stampin up's convention! It was SOOOO fun! There's nothing like spending the weekend with 6000 stampin up freaks like myself! LOL. Actually I love the company even more now. I love to see what the people are like that are on the inside of an amazing product. Shelli, the co-founder, is so sweet and genuine. Her attitude after enduring 20 years of this stampin up company is amazing. I love the stampin up product AND the innerds of the company LOL. (is that a word ??) Anyway here are a few of the projects we made during our make n takes.

This is a cute little booklet made from the 3x3 love notes and envelopes set. It has two envelopes and two 3x3 (actually 3x6" piece of card stock). The set on the front is a new one called "Eastern Blooms" The orange is one of the new in colors called Tangerine Tango. You will see this color a lot from me since I LOVE orange! It's a beautiful orange. You'll have to see it in person to appreciate it.

This card is made form the new set called "flight of the butterfly". Though, we didn't actually use any of the butterflies. If you click on the picture hopefully it will get bigger and you can read the cute sentiment. The flowers on the green half circle are actually what I could put in the butterfly wings (take a look at the scrapbook page below) This card also used some of the chipboard letters. Oh yea and check out the new 1" chocolate chip double stitched ribbon! The new catalog is AMAZING! I can't wait to share it.

This 8x8 scrapbook page also used the "Flight of Butterfly" stamp set. The butterflies in red at the top are actually a two step process. First I stamped the solid image in Versamark, and then the dots in Rose Red ink (which is the same color as the paper). The dots could be the flowers from the card above and one more pattern, which I believe is an outline. I can't remember right off hand. With little boys I don't get excited about butterflies as a mother with little girls ;). Oh speaking of little girls. I guess I should have gotten permission from my Sis to post a picture of her daughter on here. But isn't she cute! I tried to remember what age she would be and honestly I have no clue. Maybe around 6 months?? Now she has gorgeous blonde curly locks! Anyway...back to the subject :)

This is another card using "Eastern Blooms" It was a fun color combination, which happens to be 3 of the 6 in colors. Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, and Tangerine Tango.

Thanks for looking!

July Workshop

2008-08-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some projects we did for your July club

Above is the cutest bag! I used the Stampin up "life's a breeze" stamp set. It was very simple...just a rectangular piece of cardstock scored and folded up. Held together with eyelets and linen thread. You can't tell very well in the picture, but the brown strip is actually sandpaper! This picture does not do the bag justice! I used the in colors-soft sky, wild wasabi and blue bayou. Sadly these are retiring on the 10th of this month. (but there are 6 more new and exciting colors being released in the next catalog-which is amazing!!!)
This is just a card I made to show versatility in the stamp set.

This card is called a "gel" card. That is actually a small zip close baggie with hair gel in it! Again we used the "life's a breeze set". This card was totally easy to make and turned out so cute!

Where the magic happens

2008-06-05T11:26:00.001-07:00

I wanted to post a picture of my glorious scraproom! This room has everything in it. Scrapping, card making, sewing, cricut, you name it I've got an area for it! LOL. This first picture is taken standing in the door way. And yes every piece of white furniture came from Ikea.

Below is where I use my cricut machine. It's a little cubby area and we retrofitted my old corner desk to fit the spot. My cricut machine sits on a book shelf to the right. Originally this space was wasted and our framers thought it would be nice to have open. So that's what we did.

This is my Expedite shelf that houses 12x12 papers, xyron refills, bind it all, yarn, picture boxes, alterable's that I've picked up here and there, and whatever else I felt like putting there when trying to clean off a different surface. Next to the Expedite is a little cubby I picked up in Ikea's As-Is section. I have all my non SU printed paper stored in it. Some day when my husband gets motivated (or more nagging by yours truly) there is going to be a file box built and all the papers will be stored with hanging files. Above the cubby are they Bygal rails from Ikea. I have hanging baskets as well as my Stampin Up punches on there. They are such an inexpensive way to store the punches

This is a center shot inside the room. I had to close the blinds because the sun was blaring in and it didn't take a nice picture. I have two super long desks back to back to make this wonderful work surface. There's places for 4 body's do sit and play, though last week My mom, sister, and I all got together to play. And once you get all of our supplies out on the table...that huge workspace isn't so huge!

Here is my wall of Billy's. This is where I store the majority of my stampin up stuff. Papers, stamps, inks, accessories, and then of course whatever else I want to put there when I'm cleaning a different work space.

Copy Cat

2008-06-04T15:51:00.001-07:00

Here is another example of using a card design from the catalog and retro fitted it to a set I have and papers I had. The cards I chose are on page 47 of the Stampin Up Spring/Summer collection. (you can check it out by clicking the link to the right with the cover of the catalog)

I happened to have the exact colors of each card. I used the water-coloring technique for both of these. If you notice on the tall card I didn't have any Certainly Celery printed paper, so I made my own with Itty Bitty Backgrounds set and some Whisper White Craft ink.

Watercoloring madness

2008-06-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

I learned a new trick. You can do it one of two ways....Press ink from your stamp pads or markers on the lid of the ink pad and use a watercolor brush and actually watercolor. Or stampin up makes wonderful water-coloring crayons! I am part of Pam Morgan's downline (I think I am level 2) and at our quarterly downline meeting this wonderful set was the grand prize...and guess who won!!?? Yep me! So I spend every day for about a week water-coloring like a maniac! This set is called "Owl Together Now" and it'll be new in the Fall/Winter Catalog (to be released in August). This set debuted on the Stampin Up Cruise, which Pam Morgan was a part of, and all the projects I have posted are part of the make n takes from the cruise (that you have to have like $40,000 in sales to go to). So, here's what I've got!

The 14 piece set

3x3 card using an envelope with the flap tucked in and some new designer paper

This is a big long accordion (or something) card

The card opened

2008-06-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

I made a couple of cards using the card on page 36 of the Stampin up Spring Summer Catalog. I just wanted to show you how you can use the book not just as a wishlist of wonderful things, but as an idea book to copy layouts and color combinations. I took the card mentioned above and used two stamp sets I have with paper and accessories I had. I changed the overall appearance of the cards, but they turned out equally as great as the original!